


not exactly casablanca

by androgynousmikewheeler



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/F, Fluff, M/M, Minor Injuries, house husband derek morgan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:08:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29040651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/androgynousmikewheeler/pseuds/androgynousmikewheeler
Summary: At the end of a bad day, Penelope just needs a hug. An old friend appears to give her just that (and also pick up his accident-prone husband).
Relationships: Derek Morgan/Spencer Reid, Penelope Garcia & Derek Morgan, Penelope Garcia & Spencer Reid, Penelope Garcia/Tara Lewis
Comments: 2
Kudos: 113





	not exactly casablanca

Between Emily getting her to scroll through Grade-A awful pictures for the last twelve hours, Tara teaching off in New York for the next week, and yet another Reid-related injury, Penelope's final stomp towards the bullpen is loud and begrudging.

But then she looks up, across the lobby, at the man in the corner waiting for his husband. She gasps.

Derek looks up at Penelope and smiles, that wide, toothy grin just for her, and all of it fades away. Her screens and her cases and her gruesome horrid images fall from her mind like poorly mounted suction cups, and she runs to him. 

Her own smile stretches almost painfully at her cheeks, highlighted hair in her face, as she pounces on him, wrapping him up in the tightest hug she can muster.

He returns it in kind, that loud, low laugh rumbling against her chest as his muscled arms press around her back. 

"Hey, baby girl," he whispers, and her nose crinkles at the name.

"I missed you around here, handsome."

He extricates his face from her curls and cups a hand around her cheek, noses nearly touching. "You know I'm never actually gonna manage to leave this place, right?"

She blinks back happy tears. The weeks since she's seen her best friend seem more like years. "You know I'd hunt you down if you ever tried."

He laughs again, radiating serotonin, and taps her nose. "I don't doubt it one bit."

"Don't." She relaxes back into his shoulder for just a second before whipping her head up. "Wait!" she squeaks, "Wait, wait, wait! Ooh, you are going to love this! One second."

She shrugs out of the embrace and races back down the bureau hall, holding a single finger out behind her. 

Derek watches her go with an affectionate roll of his eyes, her heels echoing an odd little beat.

He scans the office with a gentle nostalgia, waving to Rossi, who grabs a final cup of coffee for the ride home. 

From another door hobbles Spencer, complete with crutches and a bulky ankle brace. He stops for a moment by the coffee machine to talk to Rossi. Rossi flicks a thumb towards Derek, Spencer's eyes following to meet Derek with a smile and an exaggerated roll. He makes a final comment to Rossi and continues to the door, which Derek holds open for him. 

He smiles and shakes his head. "You know I'm fine, right?" 

Derek kisses his cheek. "You know that won't stop me from bothering you, right?"

Spencer blushes. "It is a _sprain_. It is _nothing_."

"It means you can't drive. Which means you get picked up by your terribly embarrassing husband."

Spencer huffs but returns the cheek kiss. "I suppose I can live with that. He's pretty cute, even if he is embarrassing."

Derek drapes an arm around his shoulders, nestling his nose into Spencer's messy hair. He nods as Penelope's heels click back towards them.

"I hear the good goddess Garcia has decided to bestow a blessing upon me." He waves at the approaching explosion of pink, who holds something behind her with the sneaky excitement of a kid.

"I'm back, I'm back!" she calls. "And I bring treasure!" 

"Whatcha got?" Derek asks as Spencer's head rests against the base of his neck.

"Come on," she whines, "protocol! Close your eyes and hold out your hand!"

"How dare I break protocol like this?" Derek gasps.

"How dare you?" Spence and Penelope chorus. 

He closes his eyes and stretches out the hand not holding Spencer's upper arm. 

"Thank you." Penelope says, prim and satisfied. She places something heavy and near cylindrical in his palm, weight leaning to one side. His fingers wrap around it, trying to figure out what it is.

"Can I open my eyes now?"

"Yep!"

He looks at the object and laughs. It's a hammer, well weighted and strong. The handle is firm, comfortable, and bright pink. It also has glitter. 

He looks up at her glowing smile and disentangles himself from Spencer to give her another tight hug. "I'm leaving my husband for you, you bizarre woman," he says. 

"Damn it," Spencer says from behind him. "Wait, if you steal Tara's girlfriend, can I date Tara?"

Penelope peeks around Derek's shoulder to glare at him. "No. I get all of the partners. It's what I deserve."

He shrugs. "That checks out."

She breathes in the sharp scent of Derek's soap and revels just a moment longer in the comfort of his touch. He runs his fingers through her hair and pulls back, righting her glasses. 

"Think I need to get my pretty boy home," he says. "I love you, baby girl."

"I love you, sugar." She squeezes his hand one last time and waves goodbye. 

Spencer clears his throat. "You do realize you'll be seeing each other every day until my ankle heals, right? This isn't _Casablanca_."

She sticks her tongue out at him. "Fine, you impatient jerk. Take your damn man home."

Spencer pushes the down button on the elevator. "I love you too, Penelope."

She glares at him as she walks into the BAU. She looks back, still giving him the stink eye, and then peeks her head back through the door. "I love you more, Junior G-Man." 

The elevator dings. She bustles off towards Emily's office.

Derek and Spencer share an amused smile as they step into the elevator.

"You know, I'm nearly forty. At what point do I stop being 'junior?'"

Derek ruffled his hair. "I think we both know that's never gonna happen."

"Yeah, I know." He smirks. "I'm excited to be woken by the noise of a pretty pink hammer rather than your gnarly old one."

"Oh, you're just bitter that you don't have such a nice hammer."

Spencer sighs. "I am. Maybe she'll give me a matching pen."

"Or reading glasses, or suspenders, or maybe a pocket watch! You weird little professor," he shakes his head, "who wants a _pen_?"

"Your husband!"

"Ah, yes," Derek hums, wrapping his arms around Spencer's waist, " _him_."

**Author's Note:**

> ah, the sweet smell of self-indulgence


End file.
